


being

by allthempickles



Series: steve and natasha are bros [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Drabble, Friendship, Gen, Identity Issues, No Dialogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 11:38:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16117622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthempickles/pseuds/allthempickles
Summary: The thing about being Natasha’s friend was that they could just be. Just be.





	being

**Author's Note:**

> as always there was very little editing for this, please excuse any mistakes. feel free to tell me (politely) in the comments.

The thing about being Natasha’s friend... the thing was that both Steve and Natasha had some identity problems. Natasha was used as nothing but a tool for years, treated like an animal. Steve didn’t know a lot about her past, but he understood that she came out of it hurt and scared. She was always hidden behind so many layers of artifice. She created personas for herself, put up a facade. Steve couldn’t blame her. He himself couldn’t find it in himself to wind down and relax around some of the other Avengers. Well, mostly he had trouble relaxing around Tony. But he understood why she wouldn’t want to trust everyone or show too much of herself.

And Steve, Steve was nothing but a symbol and a character to so many of the people he talked to on a daily basis. Tony seemed to think Steve was trying to position himself as the exemplification of good manners and the american dream. And he seemed to resent Steve for that. Steve was under no impression that that was what he was, but Tony wouldn’t give it up. He constantly made digs at Steve: trying to embarass him, tease him. Endless snide comments. Steve couldn’t help but avoid him at every turn. It was exhausting. 

Agent Coulson was nicer than Tony, and Steve had a lot of respect for Phil. He was sharp and good at his job, always made good decisions and treated people well. But their interactions always made Steve uncomfortable. He didn’t know quite what to say when Coulson so clearly idolized him. When they first met and Coulson asked Steve to sign his trading cards, it had thrown Steve for a loop. Even after touring as Captain America, it felt strange. 

That was okay. Coulson was nice. But Coulson didn’t really see Steve for who he was. Whoever the hell Steve was. Steve had gone from a sickly kid from Brooklyn to… whatever he was now. It was such a whirlwind, suddenly getting a new body and touring around, becoming Captain America, acting on impulse and joining the fight. He was ever moving without really stopping to think. And then 70 years passed without him. He didn’t really know who he was now. Not what America expected from him, that was sure.

The thing about being Tasha’s friend was that they could just be. Just be, rather than “be themselves,” whoever they were. It wasn’t that when they were together they could relax, could peel back the layers and reveal the person on the inside. Neither of them really knew who they were on the inside. The people inside were too obscured. But when they were together, there was no judgement, no expectations; no pressure to know themselves They existed as they were. 

To Steve it felt a little more honest and a little more real. He hoped it felt like that to Tasha, too.


End file.
